A sample may exhibit various catalytic characteristics. They are expressed by, for example, different enzymatic classes.
In the prior art, the use of the same type of substrates that makes it possible to develop a given enzyme is known.
It is possible to cite those that relate to the determination of the better substrate of a specific protease (PNAS 97 (14), 7754–7759 and Nature Biotechnology 28, 187–193). This technique consists in testing banks of several thousands to several hundreds of thousands of substrates solely of peptide type with a known protease. This is limited to cases of proteases because the protein substrates are synthesized by combinatory chemistry.
It is also possible to cite the detection of microorganisms (Patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,108; Patent EP 451 775; J. Clin. Microbiol (1982), 16 (3), 417–21). These techniques are based on the detection of enzymes for identifying microorganisms whose characteristics are already known.
The PCT Patent Application published under No. WO01/60986 relates to the esterases that have a particular activity. The identification of these esterases is made by comparison to reference esterase profiles carried out in advance on esterase substrates. It is a matter of seeking the best enzyme for a given substrate type. These substrates correspond only to ester functions.